This is something a little different, at least for me, and we’ll see whether it’s worth the time – and whether it’s an enjoyable read.

This is a look at which Wake Forest football players are coming up on school records, or how far up charts guys like Sam Hartman, Jaquarii Roberson and Nick Sciba are.

And it’s an analysis of which season records could fall this season, given the players chasing them stay healthy and the Deacons have the season that seems within grasp.

So here are some players to watch, in regard to historical purposes, in the upcoming Wake Forest football season:

Nick Sciba | kicker | fourth season | two seasons of eligibility remaining

Darn right we’re starting with the kicker.

Sciba’s 89.1% career field goal clip is the third-best all-time mark (minimum 50 attempts), and the top spot is well within reach. Brett Baer of Louisiana (2009-12) is all-time leader at 90%, having attempted the minimum 50 attempts and made 45. Alex Henery of Nebraska (2007-10) is second, making 68 of 76 attempts (89.5%).

Sciba has made 57 of 64 attempts in his career, including the NCAA-record 33 straight in the 2018 and 2019 seasons combined. He was 14 of 17 last year, with two misses against Clemson in the opener (one was blocked) and the other coming against Campbell in the third game of the year.

Some of the blame for those misses should be assigned to the Deacons having a new long snapper (Jacob Zuhr) and holder (Zach Murphy) last season, and the unit clearly found its rhythm afterward. Sciba is entering the season having made 12 straight field goals.

As unrealistic as it would be to expect Sciba to reel off another streak of 33 (he’s only 21 away!), if he makes 90% or more of his field goals this season, he’s likely to become the most-accurate kicker in NCAA history.

It’s not just the all-time accuracy record for Sciba: He has 299 career points, third-best in Wake Forest history. He’s 38 points away from Sam Swank, so he could become the program’s all-time scorer before the end of September.

Sam Hartman | quarterback | fourth season | three seasons remaining

Before you get too hung up on hypotheticals of Hartman rewriting career passing records if he uses all of his eligibility, remember that he’s only got one season to play this year.

He will, however, march his way up the leaderboards.

Hartman is already eighth in career passing yards (5,038), and he’ll only need a couple of passes to be seventh, currently occupied by Jay Venuto (5,056). If Hartman throws for, say, 2,700 yards this season – he had 2,224 in nine games last year – he’ll be fifth, trailing Riley Skinner, Tanner Price, John Wolford and Brian Kuklick.

With perhaps what would be a better-than-expected season, Hartman could vault past those names on the career touchdown pass list. He’s currently ninth with 33, and Skinner has the program record with 60. Twenty-seven touchdown passes wouldn’t be the single-season record (29 by Wolford in 2017) and doesn’t seem all that far-fetched.

Jaquarii Roberson | slot receiver | fifth season | two remaining

To be blunt: There’s a scenario here where Wake Forest’s wide receivers are inconsistent and Roberson is the Deacons’ only reliable receiver, in which case, every single-season receiving record would be in jeopardy. Those are 98 catches (Kenneth Moore, 2007), 1,330 yards (Chris Givens, 2011) and 12 touchdowns (Kenny Duckett, 1980).

It’s not the likely scenario – but if that’s how the Deacons look, those are within reach.

They’re within grasp because Roberson averaged more than 100 yards per game last season (926 in nine games) and played all but one game against Power-5 teams.

For comparison’s sake: Roberson had 21 yards against Campbell last season, so 97.7% of his yards came against Power-5 competition. When Greg Dortch had 1,078 yards in 2018 (second-best single-season mark), 62.3% of his yards came against Power-5 competition.

As far as career marks, Roberson isn’t as high as you might think – which is the case when you have a breakout season as a fourth-year player. He’s 35 catches away from cracking the top 20 for receptions; almost 1,000 yards away from the top 10 yards; and six touchdowns away from that top 10.

As noted above, how good Roberson’s numbers get this season has to do with how reliable Wake Forest’s outside receivers perform. It also has to do with Roberson’s backup in the slot, Ke’Shawn Williams, and how much he’s able to play (plus how much faith the Deacons’ staff has in him).

Roberson was at his best when the season ended, as these were his last four games:

To save you the trouble: That’s 36 catches, 566 yards and seven touchdowns.

There’s a bit of history on the line against Old Dominion; No Wake Forest receiver has ever had five straight 100-yard games – Givens (2011) and Wayne Baumgardner (1980) are the only ones who have also had four in a row.

Christian Beal-Smith | running back | fifth season | two remaining

First, a “did you know” not related to Beal-Smith:

Did you know Kenneth Walker III ended his Wake Forest with the program’s best-ever yards-per-carry (min. 200 carries), at 5.34?

I sure didn’t.

Now the relevant part: Did you know Christian Beal-Smith is third on that list, at 4.96?

Again, had no idea.

Beal-Smith didn’t have the gaudy touchdown total and didn’t have the ridiculous yards-after-contact numbers that Walker had, but he’s quietly put himself in position to be in the company of some great Wake Forest running backs. He had 732 yards last season, and that puts him 733 away from becoming the 14th player in program history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards.

The single-season records for running backs are going to be pretty safe as long as the Deacons look as deep as they do in the backfield.

Defensive players | all positions | various years

I’m going to round these into bullet points because none of Wake Forest’s current defensive players seem to have shots at career records.

- It’s at least worth noting that Nick Andersen, with four interceptions last season and still four seasons of eligibility, could work his way into the top 10 for career interceptions (four players are tied with nine).

- Ryan Smenda Jr. has 155 career tackles and two seasons of eligibility left; he might eventually work his way into the top 20 for tackles. Marquel Lee is 20th with 291.

- The Deacons have three aggressive cornerbacks – Ja’Sir Taylor, Caelen Carson and Gavin Holmes – who can all attack the ball. So it’ll be interesting to see if the single-season record for passes defended – which combines interceptions and passes broken-up – of 19, shared by Essang Bassey (2017) and Merrill Noel (2011), is in danger.